Land deal statement incorrect

Dennis AuthPonte Vedra Beach

Published Tuesday, July 11, 2000

In the Cummer land deal article of June 14, 2000, the statement was made that, "The 21,931 acre acquisition would be the largest land buy in history for the district.'' This statement is incorrect. Between March 2, 1981, and September 30, 1982, the district acquired the 28,745.745-acre Seminole Ranch in Brevard, Orange, Volusia and Seminole counties for $8,573,385.30 or an average price of $298.25 per acre.

I personally worked with Mr. G.A. Furguson, vice president of the Norris Grain Company for 8 years trying to get the state to buy this incredible property. It contained 19 miles of the St. Johns River, the unique Puzzle Lake area, part of the East Chain of Lakes, special Indian mounds like Orange Mound, and thousands of acres of lovely flood plain marshes.

When the state said it was not a significant environmental purchase, the very generous Mr. Furguson, or Furgy, as he was known by his friends, called me on a Friday afternoon and offered to sell the 30,000 acre ranch to the district for $300 per acre. The district had $5,100,000 on hand at the time for land acquisition and I called Mike Green with the Nature Conservancy in Orlando and before the end of the day, he had pledged the balance of $3,900,000 needed to make the sale.

I drove to Ocala the next day and Furgy gave me a handshake option for 10 days to enter into a binding contract. The board of directors of the district immediately acted to sign a contract and the deal was made. The citizens of the state of Florida should be forever indebted to Mr. G.A. Gurguson and Mr. Bruce Norris of the Norris Grain Company for providing this incredible land offer. They should also be indebted for the prudent and expeditious actions of the Nature Conservancy and the St. Johns River Water Management District for recognizing what the state could not, and purchasing this irreplaceable ecological and cultural asset and resource for the recreational use of any who choose to enter its magnificent domain.